Thanksgiving

I just got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my family... my adult boys, my Wife, my Sister and her family, and my Dad.  It has been an amazing year, and I have been extremely blessed! 

I am less anxious about some of the challenges I'm facing with the car since I talked to a local 50's Ford restoration expert.  Not only is he quite knowledgeable, he's willing to install my new windshield, install and align the side windows, and even fix the speedometer!  What a relief!

This morning I wanted "Nell" to be ready for the 100 mile trip to my Sister's house and back,  just in case one of my boys wanted to ride with me.   The car is in pretty good shape overall, but now that the top is on I was concerned about hot air in the cabin.  I hadn't installed the heater or blower, so there was just a thin, leaky piece of cardboard in the large heater hole between the engine compartment and the passenger's toes.  I had a few free hours this morning, so I thought it might be a good idea to install the heater box and blower piping to plug this hole.

My first challenge was installing the heater box on the passenger side of the firewall.  I carefully cut and removed the cardboard punch-out panel in the firewall insulation, then slid the heater box in place.  This required lining it up with the tube from the right defroster vent, while simultaneously pushing it through the rather tight cutout in the firewall insulation cardboard.  It took a lot of shoving, but the rim of the heater box eventually lined up with the lip in the firewall, and three long #12 sheet metal screws held the box firmly in place.  Sorry, I did this before I thought to grab the camera!

My next challenge was to install the heater core and box from the engine compartment side.  I glued a fresh foam gasket to the box, and started the installation.  This was challenging because the right hood latch obscures one of the screw holes, and also requires tilting the heater core/box to install it, which in turn causes the bottom of the heater core to catch on the lip of the firewall hole. Again, it took a little careful shoving, but I got it to fit, and the screw holes lined up nicely.

By the time I thought to grab the camera, I had already started installing the vent ducting on the blower housing.  This seemed very simple, but actually required some careful work with a screwdriver to stretch the flexible canvas duct over the round metal shroud.  I started by installing the duct on the blower side, then reaching through and installing it on the fender duct side.

 Once the blower housing was installed, it was easy to install the rest of the duct work and a temporary blower motor.  I have a better one, but it still needs to be assembled.  This one is there just to plug the hole.

 The metal strip that goes between the blower housing and the fender duct is actually pretty important.  I found out that this prevents the blower housing from bending back and forth

 I only had a few hours to work on the car, then I felt it was ready for the drive to my Sister's.  My wife was willing to drive the "chase car" with food and beverages for dinner.  As it turns out, each of my sons wanted to ride with me!   One rode with me on the 50 mile drive there, and the other rode back with me in the evening.  I felt very affirmed, and I'm still basking in the glow of time spent with them. 

It has been a very good day! 

At the dinner table, I was able to share my gratitude for my story of  redemption, and how God has revealed to me something about myself through this car.  Yes, I have suffered neglect and pain, but God sees something beautiful in me below the layers of rust and patina.  He is redeeming that beauty, bit by bit, as I let him deeper into my life.  And, like the car, he's not done with me yet... but even in my unfinished state, I can become a source of joy to other people!

Oh, there was a very heavy dew on the car when it was time to come home.  I really need to get the heater and defroster working!